Vicksburg and snow

Well, the Rotary conference was good. I'm exhausted from a mix of the time change and not having had a day to just relax at home. After the conference Saturday, we met Chip and Lisa for lunch at Anchuca,then went to the Military Park, shopping downtown, happy hour at The Ware House, back to Clinton for dinner at a new Lebanese restaurant, then back to casa de Burr for the evening. Sunday morning Lisa treated us to wonderful homemade french toast, yogurt with fresh fruit, and Chip's amazing lattes! After recovering from such a decadent brunch, we all went to a nearby park to play 9 holes of disc golf. All in all, a wonderful visit! A huge thanks to the Burrs for once again being wonderful hosts!

I didn't take many pictures, but enjoy the few I have below. I'm also throwing in a few from our snow the weekend before!

OOO!

Daniel and I are heading to Vicksburg VERY early tomorrow morning for a Rotary conference! We'll spend all day tomorrow and half of Saturday at the conference, but will then be joining up with Chip and Lisa for some fun! I think we plan to hit up Anchuca for lunch and then the military park and some other interesting site seeing! No idea what our evening plans are, but knowing those two, it will involved good food, good drinks, good conversation! I hope you all have a good weekend!

**Shout out to Anna who had her wisdom teeth removed today! I hope you are recovering nicely, and I'm sure Rick is taking good care of you!

more violin videos and weekend update

I've posted two new violin videos in this post. Progress is slow and frustrating, but I am determined to improve! I've got lots of practicing to do tonight! I'm supposed to be working on a new song for tomorrow's lesson, and I haven't played it once yet!
Had a wonderful, but very tiring weekend. A slew of sorority sisters came to town for a wedding shower. After the shower Saturday, we shopped, went to dinner at City Grocery, danced at The Library, and then Daniel and I went to a late night. It was so much fun, but even after being lazy all day yesterday, I am still absolutely exhausted! Oh! We also got snow Saturday night/early Sunday morning, so after an extremely slow drive home in what seemed like a blizzard, Daniel and I spent about 30 minutes sledding down our driveway and the hills in our front yard! It was so much fun! We figured it would be melted the next day, so we were determined to get some sledding in for once in our new house! Bailey had a blast as well!

Pay It Forward

Several of my friends are doing this, so I'm giving in. :)

1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?!

2. Winners must post this challenge on their own blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!

3. The gift that you send to your 3 Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!

4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three Comments on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!SO, REMEMBER... Pay it forward

Happy Mardi Gras!

I hope some of you are getting to enjoy mardi gras parades today! I had really planned to make it down to the Coast for Mardi Gras this year, but when our water heater died, that plan died with it. :( I'm making up for it by having a Mardi Gras party in my department at work today. We are having a potluck lunch of red beans and rice, shrimp etoufee, jambalaya, gumbo, and king cake! YUMMY! My stomach is growling just thinking about it!

I'll just close my eyes and wish I was here instead:

been a while

I finally pulled some pics off my camera, so this post will be a random assortment!

First of all, we have hot water again. It is wonderful to have hot water again! Unfortunately, the insurance estimates came in about $50 under our deductible and wouldn't cover the water heater at all, so we are footing the entire bill. Oh well. The joys of home ownership! I will say our new tankless water heater is bigger and better than our old one and there are actually people who can service it in Oxford! It also has sensors that detect when the temp drops below 30, so that heaters can automatically come on to keep the thing warm. Woohoo!

The pics below are from our Valentine's day dinner. We grilled some lamb, and had spinach/parmesan risotto and asparagus on the side. Daniel set up a nice romantic picnic in the living room for us. It was a low key night which suited me just fine.

The lamb was marinated in blackstrap molasses, rosemary, garlic


Rich and creamy spinach, parmesan risotto is muy delicioso, but not very healthy!


Daniel likes to plate the food. This reminds me of a skull and crossbones for some reason. :) Oh, and we overcooked the lamb a little, but it was our first time grilling and the lamb was still very tasty and tender.


Our candlelit picnic set by Daniel.


On the weekends Sophie and Bailey enjoy doing many of the same things. Below is one of their favorites! Find a sunny spot and take a nap!


So, I'm way behind on my violin videos. I actually have a valid excuse though (other than the hot water crap). My last set of strings I bought apparently came with a bad A string, so everything I play on that string (which is everything) sounds terrible. I bought some new strings today, so I'll restring tonight and see if I can't make a video for you all. If not tonight, then definitely tomorrow night after my next lesson. The progress is very slow!

where to begin?

I don't have another violin video for you yet, but I have been practicing! The songs I'm currently working on: Ode to Joy, Largo, Yankee Doodle, a Russian Dance Tune, and Dixie. I can definitely tell I'm improving, but since I'm now playing songs that use all four strings, things have gotten MUCH harder! I'll try to remember to make a video tonight when I practice.

On the hot water battle: we are still without hot water. That's right. We've not had hot water since February 5th. An insurance adjuster will be coming to the house this afternoon, but has already told us they won't cover the cost of replacing our P.O.S. tankless water heater. We have currently ordered and replaced two parts on that thing and have had numerous plumbers out here to try and get this thing working...to no avail. I'm tired of bathing at work and friends' houses and tired of boiling pots of water on the stove to wash dishes. If I have to shell out every penny of the $2000 or so it takes to replace that piece in the attic with a decent one with freeze protection, I'M DOING IT! THIS WEEK! Can you tell I really can't take it anymore?

On the gardening front: I received my March Southern Living magazine in the mail this weekend, and have found my dream vegetable garden. There is no way the new one I hope to build will compare, but a girl can dream. Could someone from the Delta please bring me a truck load of decent dirt. The sand and clay (aka concrete) aren't cutting it. If the water heater and taxes don't totally wipe us out, I really do hope to start working on the soil for our new garden and building a compost bin next weekend.

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday! Sorry for the not up beat at all post today.

violin video 2

First, a disclaimer. I have only had two 30 minute lessons. I only practiced twice this week. I was told to work on my form rather than my sound. why in the world did i say I would post videos of my progress?


I have my third lesson this evening, so hopefully I'll move on from variations of Twinkle Twinkle this week.

A tankless water heater update: Today is day 6 with no hot water. We received the replacement part yesterday afternoon, but the plumber who originally came out to the house is no longer returning our phone calls. We have switched to a new plumber who is sending someone out at noon today. Fingers crossed that we will have hot water tonight!

when it rains...

It pours. Literally. Through my kitchen ceiling.

I know I promised a violin video, but since I woke up to water dripping through my kitchen ceiling, I've been a little distracted. Our @$^#$@W(!!$(*@%# Bosch tankless water heater sprung a leak and dripped from the attic down through insulation, the kitchen ceiling, and down part of one wall. Anyone considering getting a tankless water heater, let me give you some advice. Don't put it in your attic. I can only assume because it is on the north side of the attic near the eaves, that cold north wind keeps causing our problems, but I'm really fed up. Since we've lived in our house, we've had to deal with our hot water freezing anytime the temperature gets near the 20 degree mark. Daniel has added more insulation and wrapped pipes, but it apparently hasn't solved our problems. I suppose we are lucky that the part that has to be replaced wasn't very expensive, but we still have had to deal with no hot water since Tuesday night, and will now have to replace the insulation that got wet, repaint the ceiling and wall, and figure out some other way to prevent this POS from freezing or bursting again. We are open to any suggestions. Our very helpful plumber had this suggestion for us: "the builder should never have put it in the attic". Really?! You think we didn't figure that out about 2 years ago? Unfortunately, since the thing has both water and gas piped to it, moving it to another location will not be cheap or easy. If we can just get through this winter, maybe this summer we can look into more permanent fixes for this problem. The picture below shows the water spot on our kitchen ceiling. Thankfully we have wonderful friends in the neighborhood who have graciously allowed us to shower at their houses for the last week. Please let the part arrive today, so I can take a shower at my house (and wash dishes, and do laundry).


On a more positive note, the weather has been phenomenal! I've really gotten the garden bug after such a warm weekend! I have big plans for composting, rain barrels, and a bigger and better veggie garden! I'm thinking about moving my tea roses to another location as well, but haven't quite decided on that yet. I'll keep you posted!

violin lesson 2

I had my second violin lesson last night, and it went fairly well. This week I'm to focus on my form more than my sound or hitting the right notes. Because of that, I was a little shy about making a video last night. Let me at least get my latest theme sounding slightly better before I share a video with you all. I'll make it tonight and post it tomorrow, I promise. I have unrealistic expectations and really need to slow down and accept that I'm gonna sound terrible for quite a while. My teacher tells me it's much more important for me to get my form correct, so I don't get used to bad habits (like resting the violin on my wrist, pushing down to hard with the bow, etc).

After my lesson last night, I went straight to the gym. I ended up doing 8 miles on the bike and 2 miles on the elliptical! It felt wonderful! If only every night at the gym felt so good! Of course I didn't bring my clothes with me today, so I guess I'll be skipping until Friday night. Why not go thursday you might ask?

Thursday is 'girls night'. We are going to dinner and a movie. Most of the crew is going to the AMP to see Marley and Me. I'm gonna branch off and head over to the first night of the Oxford Film Festival. They have a lot of great movies I'm excited to see over the weekend. Let me know if you want to see my schedule or join me for any of the films. Daniel will most likely be in Holly Springs at a disc golf tournament Saturday and Sunday, so I'm on my own.

If anyone is interested in a young, female black lab mix puppy or an 8 month old, male yellow lab mix, let me know. they need forever homes and my husband is a meany and won't let me get either one. :) I don't have a picture of the male yet, but Heidi is below. How can you say no to that adorable face?

Super Bowl...of guac

Daniel and I are hosting what is becoming our annual Super Bowl Party. We kept holding out for someone else to host, but i guess they were holding out waiting for us! They know us well, cause we caved and we're having a party. Not that we mind! I love excuses to cook and pig out...which brings me to my title. Prior to about noon today, I had no idea who was even playing in the Super Bowl. I had to Google it. I also had to Google what time it started. Sad, huh? For those of you who are as oblivious as me its the Arizona Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, pre-game starts at 4. I could care less about either of these teams, but the food, oh lordy, the food is definitely generating some excitement! Below are a few of the items that will be in attendance:

Buffalo Chicken Dip (cause I'm addicted)
Captain Rodney's Dip (cause Daniel and I are addicted)
Potato Skins (gotta provide something that doesn't have to have meat on it)
Guacamole (cause it's friggin awesome)
Meatballs (yummy balls of meat...who needs a reason?)
Cheese/beer fondue (cause Jenny is awesome)
Oreo truffles (cause Nina is awesome)
*several additional savory dishes and desserts will also be in attendance

I hope the men come hungry.

In other news, I don't want to go to the gym tonight. Are you shocked after what you just read? Eating food is so much more fun than burning calories. I really need to go every day this weekend to justify the kind of gluttony I'll be reveling in on Sunday. And I wonder why I haven't lost more weight?

First Violin Lesson!

So my first violin lesson went rather well I think! We spent most of the class restringing my violin, working on stance and bow hold, but the last few minutes I actually got to play part of twinkle twinkle little star. I'm to continue practicing this piece and work on my A and E string fingering. My teacher has students of all ages; from 3 years old up to 61! There is a 5 year old after my lesson, so next time I think I'll have to stay to hear how much better she is than me! I'm very excited and can't wait to get better! I apologize for the poor video angle...Daniel was 'too busy' watching a Nova program to come and film me. He claims he didn't hear me ask, but I ain't buyin' it!


P.S. Happy Hump Day! Half Way Through The Week!

Pick it up!

Wow, weekends sure do fly by. My lettuce wraps Friday night were a success and were so quick and easy to make they will become a regular! I did not take any photos due to the fact that I was having 'one of those nights' where nothing seems to be going right. Here is the recipe I used for my lettuce wraps. The only modifications I made were to use ground turkey, slightly less hoison sauce, I added mushrooms to mine, and topped with toasted ramen for a little extra crunch. Spicy and delicious!

We only had a total of 4 people show up for our Adopt-a-Highway trash pick up, so that was disappointing. The four of us manage to do just about a mile (of a four lane stretch) in 3 hours. It was a beautiful day to be outside and we managed to pick up 27 bags of garbage. That's correct, 27 bags of garbage in a mile stretch. And believe me, we could have picked up more if we had been willing to brave muddy slopes and forests. I believe I spent majority of my 3 hours thinking very derogatory thoughts about litterers. I mean really! You can't take your styrofoam cup or your McDonald's bag to your house to throw away? I saw so many fast food wrappers, styrofoam cups, wal-mart bags, and bottles! I just really can't understand how people can think it's ok to just throw garbage out of their car windows! ARGH!

Happy Birthday Shout Out to Kent who celebrated his birthday Saturday night. Enjoyed some wonderful food, drinks, and fun friends. The gift theme of the night was vodka. Kent received so many different kinds of vodka, he plans to have a vodka tasting party soon. That should be fun!?

I've told you all I'm taking violin lessons, but I failed to tell you about the class Daniel is taking! Tonight is the first of MANY welding classes. Every monday night for 2 hours from now through the spring he will be learning all about welding. I believe this knowledge will be used primarily for art and around the house projects, but it's a nice skill to have as a backup. He's very excited!

Tonight is Book Club and we will be discussing The Reader. This was a very fast read and was very interesting. I'm anxious to see how the other girls felt about it.

Happy Monday.

Friday!

For a short week, this week sure has been LONG! I kept having to look at my calendar to verify that I did in fact have Monday off. Doesn't bode well for how next week will feel!

Today will be another jumble of random thoughts.

1. They are building a park across the street from my office. I'm very excited that shortly we'll have a nice place to go eat lunch outside or go for a nice walk when we need a break from work. They've been moving dirt all this week and the huge machines make our entire office vibrate(sounds safe doesn't it?). Daniel made me realize today that those vibrations are very similar to the vibrations on a cruise ship! So now it's just a matter of closing my eyes, putting on my headphones, and imagining I'm on a cruise ship rather than at work. Ahhhh.....


2. I'm attempting a lettuce wraps recipe that is supposed to taste just like P.F. Chang's! P.F. Chang's also posts their recipe, but the ingredients list scared me off. I wanted something much quicker and easier. A vegetarian friend will be joining us for dinner, so we will be making a ground turkey version and, as I like to call it, a 'fake meat' version. I vow to take lots of photos and report back on the validity of their claims as to the 'tastes just like p.f. changs'.

3. Daniel and I are considering going to the Coast for Mardi Gras this year. We've missed the last two years,I think. If you've never done Mardi Gras on the Coast, you don't know what you are missing. No doubt, NOLA Mardi Gras is something to see, but on the Coast you get all the fun, the food, the drinks, the parades, the beads...without the complete insanity. It helps that we always have extremely convenient locations to watch the parades though! We do have a friend in NOLA who goes ALL OUT for Mardi Gras, and I'm sure it would be quite an experience to spend Fat Tuesday with him, but we'll just have to play it by ear. Not sure I have the time or the energy to create a costume.

4. Our plans tomorrow include picking up trash with our Rotary club for our section of 'Adopt-a-Highway'. Once again, a big thanks to my husband for getting us to sponsor that! WooHoo! Nothing like picking up trash on a Saturday. It will make you appreciate your cushy desk job and is good for the environment though. Tomorrow night we will be celebrating Kent's birthday at the Jackson house. It won't be quite the same as dinner in Telluride, CO, but I suppose it will do. The Jackson's certainly know how to throw a party.

5. The gym. It's amazing how different I can feel towards the gym week by week. Last week, I was LOVING the gym. Feeling powerful, upping my speed and endurance, rocking it! This week...not so much. Today will be my third workout day this week and, once again, I ain't feelin' it. Though I've maintained my increased speed from last week, my time has gone down, and my music isn't mentally getting me there this week. I think this weekend I need to work on a new motivating soundtrack. Working out also makes me so freaking tired. My Mom used to ask me, 'are you getting enough exercise' whenever I used to complain about being tired. Well that's bs. I'm taking my vitamins, eating salads for dinner every night, drinking tons of water, and working out and I still can hardly keep my eyes open past 8:30 pm. Any other suggestions for more energy? Daniel says maybe I'm getting too much sleep, but I don't think that's it.

6. Did I mention it snowed in Oxford on Tuesday? Snowed pretty hard for a couple of hours, but didn't stick AT ALL. I'm still holding out hope for one honest to goodness, go sledding in my neighborhood instead of going to work snow days this year. This photo doesn't show much, but was all I took the time to snap through my office window. Had I known it wasn't going to stick to anything, i might have actually taken the time to go outside in it.


Well, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Over and out!

I don't have a title for this post since I don't actually have a post planned. Just going to ramble.

1. Violin lesson was cancelled due to instructor was in a car accident. Hopefully next Tuesday we'll try again. To tell you the truth, after reading some of the music books I ordered, I'm getting very nervous! Violin at 30 is gonna be alot harder than Saxophone at 13. Oh well. Carpe Diem!

2. I made a new recipe last night, but only remembered to take a pic at the very end. And the pic was on my crackberry, so the quality isn't great. Anyways, what we have below is Pimento Mac and Cheese from the December issue of Southern Living. This was a fast easy side dish to make, and Daniel was VERY happy with it. You could really make this dish even healthier by using whole wheat penne and lower fat cheddar cheese. If you like homemade mac and cheese and you like pimento and cheese... recipe is for you!


3. Happy Birthday shout out to Jenny! Her husband arranged for several couples to surprise Jenny in Memphis Saturday. We enjoyed a LONG (as in like 5 hours)and delicious dinner at The Melting Pot,a drink in the Peabody Lobby, a few drinks/shots at The Flying Saucer, then LOTS of dancing at club 132, 278, 215 (I can't ever get the number straight), a night at a hotel, then brunch at the Blue Plate Cafe. It was a fun filled time! The pictures from most of the cameras present haven't been shared yet, so I don't have any photographic evidence to offer you. don't worry, I'll post when I can!

4. Daniel and I are considering a new business venture. It would require alot of time and money to get off the ground, so may not even be feasible. Not sure why I even brought it up cause I'm not gonna jinx it by telling you what it is. Sorry.

5. Tonight is the LOST premier. I hate that there is such a long time between seasons because I really am not that excited about it. I'm hoping this first new episode will get me back into the swing of things.

I think that's about all the rambling I can do for today. I'll attempt to post more frequently than once a week. Happy Hump Day! Hooray for short weeks!

Hump Day Update

Happy Wednesday! For anyone counting, the week is almost half way over! Hooray!

As an update to my last post, my first violin lesson is next Tuesday! I've got to pick up my g-string and a few sheet music books this weekend in preparation. I'm so excited! I plan to try and do a small recording each week to track my progression, so hold me to it!

With the frigid temperatures this week, I had a craving for something warm and homey last night. I decided to make cheesy broccoli soup, one of my childhood favorites. It's fast and easy and very delicious. You'll notice I didn't say healthy. I typically don't attribute the word healthy to anything that contains Velveeta, but since this soup is also full of broccoli, I'm able to convince myself it won't negate my hour at the gym. :) Let me apologize in advance for the photos- my camera is slowly falling apart.

Start by cooking chopped onion in a few tablespoons of butter. I must note, I increased the amounts by half so we would have plenty of leftovers.


While the onions are softening, cut up 3/4 lb of Velveeta.


Cook a bag of chopped frozen broccoli in the microwave for about 6 minutes, then drain.


Throw all of these ingredients in with the softened onions and add a couple of cups of milk(i used organic 1% milk), and some salt and pepper.


Allow the soup to slowly heat up and melt the cheese. I did not allow mine to slowly heat which means I ended up with some slightly brown cheese on the bottom of my pot- it didn't hinder the flavor at all though. We enjoyed this with some warm french bread and it definitely hit the spot!

I need a G String...

And not because I'm pursuing a new career path in exotic dancing! That's right, I'm FINALLY taking violin lessons! It's a new year, so I decided to Carpe Diem by googling violin lessons in Oxford, MS. One email led to another and I'm now going to be taking weekly violin lessons! Life is too short to keep putting things off! Though I'll have to sacrifice a couple of meals out each month (which is good for me anyways), I'm very hopeful that it will be worth it! I'm so excited! Wish me luck! No, I mean REALLY wish me luck! There is a very real possibility that the only reason I never got past Hot Cross Buns on my own was because of a very real lack of ability! Here goes nothing!

Team EDWARD!

Today will be my third day this week to go to the gym. Mind you, prior to this week, I haven't been to the gym since Thanksgiving-ish. So far, it's felt wonderful! Endorphins are GREAT! Sure hope I can keep this up! Tomorrow night's workout will be replaced with a Happy Birthday Hour for the 203483408 friends with January birthdays. Most of us have to work early Saturday morning, but going for drinks right after work Friday gives us plenty of time to have a little fun! Saturday Daniel will be going hunting with Kent. You know what that means? GIRLS NIGHT! WooHoo! The current plans include girly food, girly drinks, and girly movies at my place. The rest of the weekend shall be spent working out, reading, and writing. Does a weekend get any better than that? Well, ok, if you replaced the working out with eating it would definitely SEEM better.

Now on to a subject I've avoided discussing on this blog. It's very personal to me, and I'm a little embarrassed by this admission, so be kind. For the last two months, I've been diagnosed with OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder you ask? No, that would be my Mom and Daniel. I've something far worse....Obsessive Cullen Disorder. The image below explains it perfectly.

How do you know if you are suffering from this disorder? Well, if you read the entire Twilight series in a week, you might have OCD. If you've been to see the movie more than once, if you've read other books just to try and get your mind off Edward Cullen, if you eventually given up and started reading the books all over again...you might have OCD. Thankfully, I'm in an informal support group to get help. I've discovered that most of my very intelligent, beautiful, not teenaged friends are suffering right along with me. We are trying to help each other through this very difficult time. I do feel some guilt over having majorly attributed to several of their addictions by loaning them the first book, but at least I'm not suffering alone anymore. :)
TEAM EDWARD!

I hate money.

Well, actually, I hate having no money. It is so incredibly disheartening to look at upcoming expenses. I just got my car out of the shop after 3 weeks! Needless to say, it wasn't a cheap trip. I've got to pay off Christmas expenses, finish paying off some furniture expenses, pay some dues, Lord help me when it's time for taxes! I'm not sure how Daniel and I got on the subject, but we both mentioned how much $100,000 dollars would change our life. We joke about winning the lottery all the time, but just a 'measly' 100K would be so huge! So, if anyone out there has 100K lying around, look no further!

On a less depressing note, I've officially been elected VP/Pres-Elect of our Rotary club for the 2009-2010 year. I have to admit I'm a little nervous about finding the time to take on these additional responsibilities, but I'm honored none the less. My term begins in July, so wish me luck! Other big changes for 2009...I REALLY want to take violin lessons. Maybe I can trade meatballs for the lessons considering the first paragraph of this post. I am also officially becoming the Health and Money Saving Nazi this year. Daniel and I have got to get it in gear! Wow, this is gonna be a long year. I have a feeling this post will generate quite a few AMENS! from my readers. I suppose everyone is feeling the crunch!

Well, happy hump day to you all. I leave you with two pics taken at the same time last month. it was the early morning after the moon was the closest to the Earth it gets all year. The quality isn't super, but you get the idea.

The Holidays

As I'm sure many of you are, I'm shocked that the holidays are over and it is already 2009. Several people have asked about any New Year's resolutions I have made, but I try not to make resolutions. Too much pressure. I am constantly striving to be healthier, to do more volunteering, to save more money, etc. All of these are a works in progress from year to year!

I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked over the holidays, but enjoy the few provided below!

Christmas Morning with Daniel's family.


Daniel carving the first of many turkeys. He's a professional now.


Bailey and her cousin Olivia acting like perfect angels. I wonder why?


Turkey scraps. That would explain it.


We used to have to do all manor of things to make Madeline sit, pose, and smile for a photo. Needless to say, that is no longer necessary.


Making sugar cookies...a Sullivan tradition.


I just love this picture. Ah the beauty of a digital camera! Instant gratification!


Anna's last night in town pics from City Grocery and late night.




My New Years Day turkey. I used the same rub as previously blogged about with a chicken. YUMMY!


The girls


Silly faces!


and my personal favorite...